Observations from the Edge
Robert T. Nanninga
Coast News (final)
July 31, 2007

On July 17, George W. Bush signed into law, by executive order, an amendment to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. In his recent amendment to the IEEPA George Bush dictates,

"… due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take ..... any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:

threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or

undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

In other words?

The Executive order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq is as vague as it is scary. It is also completely unconstitutional in that it aims to curb free speech under the fear of economic sanctions. These new revisions will make protesting the occupation of Iraq a criminal act, and allow the federal government to freeze the property and bank accounts of those considered to be in violation, without warning.

Not clarified in the Executive Order are measurable ways to define what would be considered "threatening the peace and stability of Iraq," or what it means to "undermine Iraqi reconstruction." Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but it seems the only American citizens threatening the peace and stability of Iraq are closely associated with the Bush administration.

Would someone please explain how unilaterally invading a sovereign nation, bombing its infrastructure and disbanding its government and military in order to occupy that nation in order to privatize that nation's oil resources for the benefit of Western corporate interests and the Saudi monarchy, does not undermine the stability of Iraq?

The Bush administration's occupation of Iraq and its continuing goal of destabilization is not only a war crime and a crime against humanity, it is also threatening the very cohesiveness of the United States, and no amount of executive orders will change that.

The Bush administration is out of control, and the federal government — now just a corporate tool — can no longer be trusted to represent the best interests of the American people in any way, shape or form.

Californians, and other citizens of the United States of North America, must now come to terms with a rogue presidential administration purposely undermining the constitution in order to silence those opposing the administration's Machiavellian schemes in the Middle East.